Essendon defender Dean Solomon will have arthroscopic surgery on his knee tomorrow to remove some loose cartilage from below the knee cap. Solomon will miss the next four weeks as a result of the surgery but will be available to play in the final two pre-season matches before the season opener against Sydney.

The news comes as the second injury blow to the Bombers in the space of a week. Jason Laycock recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on an ankle to remove some floating bone. But it is not all bad news.

""Both players will get some match practice in before the season starts so that is the positive to come out of it. We opted to get both problems fixed now rather than try and manage them during the course season,"" general manager of football operations Dom Cato said.

MEANWHILE, the Bombers will get their first taste of match practice this weekend in an intra-club match on Saturday. Kicking off at 10am at the Lexus Centre, the match gives the players a good opportunity to impress prior to the Bombers' exhibition match against Sydney on February 17th. The pre-season competition kicks off one week later with Essendon to play Brisbane at Carrara on February 24th.